


Mipha and Midna

by smckee377



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom
Genre: Pining Link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24040504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smckee377/pseuds/smckee377
Summary: Twilight, though withdrawn and broody, attempts to comfort Wild after he wakes from a dream about a memory of him and Mipha. Wild feels like Mipha hates him for failing her in that final battle all those years ago and Twilight tries to make him feel better by mentioning Midna.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 48
Collections: Linked Universe One-Shots





	Mipha and Midna

The night air is calm and quiet as Four and Twilight keep watch over their resting fellow Links. Four is absently browsing his materials, trying to come up with a weapon that Wild couldn’t possibly break and quickly running out of options with the limited resources he has at hand. He turns to Twilight, holding a piece of opal that Wild somehow pried out of a rock with a sword, but sees that Twilight is staring rather intently at the fire beside them both.  


Four glances behind them towards the sleeping Links nestled up against the cliff-face Wind had found as their nightly shelter. They all look completely knocked out, so Four quietly shifts across the small stretch of grass between him and Twilight and leans forward just enough to block a portion of the fire and looks Twilight in the face. For a split second, he thought he saw pain in Twilight’s surprisingly round eyes, but Twilight suddenly turns his head and scowls, squinting down at him.  


“Captain’s the pretty boy, so there’s no need to stare at me with such a shocked look on your face,” he snarls. Four, slightly startled and embarrassed, leans back into a ‘I’m totally casual right now’ sitting position.  


“Think highly of yourself do you?” he spits out defensively, staring down towards the fire as well. The silence sits for a moment or two.  


“Well?” Twilight asks. Four looks at him. “You stared in my face and now are avoiding looking at me. Clearly you have something you want to say.” Four turns the opal over in his hand, examining it for flaws.  


“You looked upset was all,” he replies offhandedly. “Not a fan of fire?”  


“Not a fan of the color orange,” Twilight answers. Four looks back at him, very much confused. Twilight chuckles a little. “Bad memories with orange themed magic.”  


“Yeah because that makes so much sense. Since when does magic have color themes? And besides, you don’t like to use magic.”  


“Doesn’t mean people don’t use it against me.” Twilight stands up, absently reaching for the necklace tucked under his shirt. “Blue magic, though. That’s alright by me,” he says quietly. He stretches a little and glances back at the sleeping Links. Four looks back as well and frowns.  


“Wait a second...something’s off here…” He stands up and steps over to stand beside Twilight.  


“Wild is gone,” Twilight says matter-of-factly. Four looks around frantically.  


“What?! How?” Four says, immediately grabbing his sword from the ground beside him. Some of the sleeping Links begin to stir, but Twilight calmly puts his hand on Four’s shoulder.  


“Calm down. He wasn’t taken. I don’t smell anything. I’ll go find him.” Without waiting for a response from Four, Twilight walks off along the cliff-face closest to where Wild was sleeping. Once the light of the fire is cut off by the surrounding trees, Twilight touches the shard on his necklace and transforms into a wolf. The woods come alive and he is able to catch Wild’s scent almost immediately. Normally, it’s easy anyway with all the food Wild carries, but that was all left back at camp. It was like Wild took no precautions to hide where he had gone. This worries Twilight and he quickens his pace as he follows the trail.  


After what could only have been 10 minutes, he hears something ahead of him. He slows down, listening more intently, and discovers that the sound is of breathing. Very ragged breathing. He cautiously approaches the sound and finds Wild crouched at the edge of a small pond, head drenched in water as if he had dunked himself in. Twilight immediately shifts back into human form and approaches, speechless, and sits down beside and slightly behind Wild. It takes a few moments, but eventually Wild scoots away from the edge of the pond and sits down beside Twilight while pushing the wet hair out of his face.  


“This is new,” Twilight says gently, “Not a big fan of new when it comes to you.” Wild stares at his hands lying limply in his lap. “Not a nightmare then?”  


“Worse than that really,” Wild finally says.  


“What’s worse than a nightmare for you?”  


“A memory of myself and...her,” Wild whispers, pulling his knees up against his chest. Twilight says nothing. Just waits. “It was small, like all the others,” Wild finally continues. “She was showing me how to dive off a cliff and break the water so it would sting less on my skin and I would dive deeper. I was starting to get the hang of it, but this one time I slipped and belly flopped. She had to pull me out of the water because I couldn’t breath. She was so scared and I couldn’t say anything to calm her down. When I reached out to her, I woke up panicked.” Wild falls silent.  


“Are you less panicked now?” Twilight asks. Wild nods. “You know, that memory had a happy ending.” Wild looks over at Twilight. “You regained your breath and calmed her down. She probably smacked you upside the head for worrying her so much and gave you this scar right here.” He leans over and tickles one of the scars on Wild’s cheek, which Wild swats away with the faintest smile on his face.  


“Knock it off, man.” The smile on his face falters slightly. “Twi, can I be honest?”  


“If not with me, then with who else,” Twilight responds plainly.  


“I think Mipha and I were going to get married.” There is a moment of silence. “I don’t really remember, though. What if...what if we were and I got her killed because I wasn’t strong enough in that battle. What if she hates me for it?” he asks quietly.  


“No one hates you, Wild. You were doing what you could and things worked against you. Kind of...kind of like me and my friend Midna,” Twilight says, almost as an afterthought.  


“Who’s Midna?” Wild asks, looking at Twilight more directly. Twilight takes a deep breath.  


“Midna--”  


“Wait, you know Midna, too?” Twilight immediately jumps up, sword drawn, and turns towards the sound. Warriors stands behind them, still in the treeline, with his hands up. “Calm down, goat boy, it’s just me.”  


“What are you doing here?” Twilight growls.  


“Four was worried that you two had been gone so long especially since that one squirreled away right under your guys’ watch,” Warriors says, gesturing towards Wild.  


“We’re fine. Just...restless,” Wild says evasively, standing now as well.  


“Well anyway,” Warriors continues, “Twilight, I didn’t realize you knew Midna, too.”  


“I’m more surprised that you know her to be honest,” Twilight says carefully.  


“Oh yeah. She fought with me to save my Hyrule,” Warriors adds proudly. Twilight is slightly stunned by this.  


“She fought with you?”  


“Yeah. She was an incredible help, too. Very powerful. Did you know her before me? Or...well I guess she might have been able to time travel what with Cia and all…” Warriors goes quiet, lost in thought.  


“What do you mean time travel?” Twilight asks a little too quickly.  


“Well, she looked different the second time I met--"  


“Second time?!” Absently, his grip on his sword tightens, which Warriors notices.  


“Twilight, you okay there?” Warriors asks a little too skeptically.  


“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” Twilight spits out.  


“War, why don’t you circle back and tell Four we’re fine out here,” Wild says quickly.  


“I said I’m fine!” Twilight shouts at Wild, who flinches backwards a step. Immediately, Twilight turns away from him with a scowl on his face. “I’ll...I’ll be back later. Gotta finish my patrol.” Roughly, he sheaths his sword and vanishes into the woods. Wild and Warriors stand there for a second.  


“I didn’t mean to upset him,” Warriors says calmly, approaching Wild. “Didn’t think he would freak out like that.”  


“Yeah...that was...weird,” Wild adds. “We should get back, though. He needs space now. You’ll just make him angrier.” Wild pulls the hood of his cape up over his wet hair and glances in the direction that Twilight went before he and Warriors return to camp.  


When they get back, Wild is surprised to see that Time is awake. The old man glances over at them and gestures Wild over to sit beside him at the fire with Four.  


“You want a little midnight air?” Time asks calmly.  


“Yeah. Just needed to clear my head a little,” Wild says cautiously. Time nods a couple of times, examining the opal that Four had been toying with earlier.  


“Is it clear now?”  


“Uh...more than before I guess.”  


“Good.” Time hands Wild the opal. “Four has some design choices to review with you.” He stands up, strapping his sword across his back.  


“Where are you going?” Warriors asks, taking a bite from an apple.  


“Twilight should have backup. He shouldn’t be wandering around alone.”  


“Come on. He’s a strong guy. He’ll be fine,” Warriors responds with just the slightest tones of uncertainty in his voice.  


“Humor an old man,” Time says with a faint grin on his face. Time wanders over to Epona and unties her. Warriors looks on confused as Time leads Epona off in the direction he and Wild just came from. Time follows their footprints back to the pond and gives the ground a cursory glance. It isn’t difficult for him to spot Twilight’s heavy boot prints and to follow them into the treeline just to the north. However, once in the treeline, the boot prints vanish. Time turns towards Epona and rubs her neck. “Now it’s your turn, girl.” He releases her lead and pats her gently on the haunches. She starts heading off into the woods and Time follows her without hesitation even as she doubles back and changes direction.  


After what seems like forever of endless wandering, Time sees a particularly large tree up ahead with a rather big hole in it about 15 feet off the ground. He takes Epona’s lead and ties her to a sapling nearby before approaching the tree. Without saying anything at first, he sits down at the base of the tree and looks over at Epona. Finally, he says, “I might not be as good a tracker, but Epona isn’t so easily left behind.” With the slightest rustling, Twilight climbs out of the hole and down the tree, landing beside Time. Time looks up at him. “Not a bad replacement for home, though I’m sure it’s smaller than we’re used to.” Twilight plops heavily onto the ground beside Time and leans back against the tree, staring at the dirt in front of him. “So,” Time says, breaking the silence once more, “What was Wild’s nightmare this time?”  


“He didn’t have one. He just remembered more about Mipha,” Twilight responds, finally looking up from the dirt to examine Epona.  


“Anything specific?”  


“She taught him how to dive better.”  


“Well I’m sure watching him swim now is doing wonders for her anxiety,” Time responds lightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees that Twilight doesn’t react at all. He leans over slightly and points at Epona. “You know, Epona has seemed a little off to me lately.”  


“What?” Twilight frowns and scans over what he can see of Epona.  


“Yes. She’s quieter and more withdrawn. I wonder what she would have to say if she could speak to me.”  


“She...she just misses her old friends from Ordon.”  


“Does she?”  


“Yeah. She told me about them the other night. She hopes that they’re doing alright, you know?”  


“That’s a natural feeling. I always have some worry in my heart for Malon and the ranch.” Twilight nods briefly.  


“There’s one friend she really misses, but she doesn’t think she’ll ever see them again. It’s...it’s been eating at her for a while now because she doesn’t know if that friend cares about seeing her again now that Hyrule is fine.”  


“Why does she think the friend won’t see her?” The silence is heavy as Twilight’s stone face cracks the slightest bit and recovers.  


“They had been...able to visit each other...you know when I rode around to places with her...but the bridge to her friend’s home was...destroyed and her friend doesn’t want it to be fixed. So I can’t go over there anymore to see her. So Epona can see her, I mean,” Twilight hastily adds.  


“Of course,” Time says gently. “It’s a shame that Epona can’t write letters. That strange postman might be able to find some route to her friend’s home.”  


“The thing is that another friend of hers...a dog...he knows this same friend and has met up with her since. Epona’s really hurt that the dog gets the chance to talk to her, but she can’t. She feels like it’s really unfair and she doesn’t know what kind of friend this friend is because of it or if the dog is telling the truth or what could be happening with her friend and the dog and…” Twilight’s thought spiral pulls him into a glowering silence.  


“Those are some very complex feelings for a horse,” Time comments lightly. Twilight whips his head up to look at Time. “Shame I can’t talk to animals and learn how complex they really are. I might be able to help them.”  


“Well, Epona’s right there,” Twilight says, gesturing to her, “She can understand you. What would you tell her to do about her friend and the dog?” Time stands up and goes over to Epona. He gently strokes her neck.  


“I have a friend much like yours, Epona, but my friend was a fairy. She helped me navigate the perils of Hyrule and then she vanished, much like your friend did,” Time begins. He’s acutely aware that Twilight has stood up and come slightly closer. “I’m still trying to see if I can find her again, even after all these years, much like you are. The pain of her absence has lessened as time has passed, but I still feel the jab whenever we come upon new fairy ponds in our travels. If I am to find her again, however, I must brave this pain to get a better idea of how I might possibly find her. You’re very fortunate that you have the dog to help you.” Time pats Epona’s neck and turns to Twilight. “You know, that dog probably has no idea how much it means to Epona that he knows her friend, too. Maybe she can learn what she can from the dog about how her friend has been these past years. I’m sure it will be painful to hear at first, but knowing about it will help answer her questions.” Slowly, Twilight approaches Epona and puts his head against hers. He takes a deep breath and rubs Epona’s neck.  


“I’m gonna have to talk it over with her. Make sure she’s...mentally prepared to talk to the dog. She’s not the happiest right now,” Twilight responds quietly.  


“Of course. And she should take her time with it. No need to rush into it tonight,” Time adds. Carefully, he unties the lead from the sapling and holds it out to Twilight. “We should return to camp. Don’t want too many of the others to be awoken and sent out as a search party.” Twilight takes the lead and follows alongside Time as they make their way back towards the camp.  


“Why are you up, anyway?” he asks offhandedly.  


“Four dropped a rock on me while he was waking Warriors to go search for you.” Twilight looks at Time, slightly concerned. “Don’t worry. It was only that opal piece Wild said he got from a rock he broke his sword on.”  


“There are lots of rocks he’s broken his sword on. You’ll have to be more specific,” Twilight responds. Time chuckles lightly and puts his hand on Twilight’s shoulder.  


“Or we could get him to stop breaking open rocks.” Twilight smiles slightly.  


“I’ll get right on that after we teach him how to use a fishing rod so he stops jumping in with a knife.”  


“Good plan.” Time gestures in front of them and allows Twilight to lead him back to the camp, Epona close behind them. As they approach the camp, the light of the fire begins to appear through the treeline. Time, Twilight, and Epona enter the little clearing at the cliff-face to find Wild, Warriors, and Four all sitting quietly by the fire and watching it very intently. Time stops and puts a hand on his waist, cocking his head slightly at the sight before them. “Don’t worry, Twilight, if they were talking about you, they certainly wouldn’t make it abundantly obvious by ceasing all conversation the second you walk up.” Four and Wild squirm a little uneasily and Warriors just shrugs.  


“Okay yeah, we were. He was acting weirdly and we don’t know why,” he chimes in. Wild smacks him on the shoulder.  


“We do know why,” Wild corrects, giving Warriors a meaningful glance. Begrudgingly, Warriors sighs and stands up.  


“Hey, before you start,” Twilight cuts in, “I wanted to apologize to you both for shouting at you. I was just caught off guard and I shouldn’t have lashed out at you for asking your questions.” Stunned, Warriors looks down at Wild.  


“He apologized?” Wild shoots him a dirty look.  


“That doesn’t excuse you, it excuses him.”  


“Fine, fine.” Warriors steps towards Twilight and more gently says, “I wanted to apologize also. I didn’t think it would upset you that much to hear about Mi...uh...our mutual friend.” Twilight can’t help but stiffen up a little, but he takes a deep breath and pats Warriors on the shoulder.  


“Look at you admitting your mistakes. How momentous!” Four bursts out laughing and Warriors kicks vaguely in his direction.  


“It’s not that novel a moment. Relax will you.” Time chuckles and takes a seat beside Wild as Twilight and Warriors sit down by Four.  


“Midna and I didn’t exactly part happily is all,” Twilight adds, poking the fire with a stick he picked up off the ground.  


“Well I’m sorry to hear that,” Warriors replies. He awkwardly adjusts his scarf for a moment.  


“How was she?” Twilight finally asks. Relief washes over Warriors face for the briefest of seconds and he grins hugely.  


“How was she? Dude she was amazing! Her power is incredible! I haven’t seen someone use magic like that ever and I know Zelda’s magic very well!” Warriors leans back and looks up at the sky. “It was kind of weird though,” he adds absent-mindedly.  


“Well of course it was. She uses dark magic,” Twilight responds nonchalantly, still watching the fire he’s been poking.  


“No I mean...what did she look like when you last saw her?” Warriors asks, looking back towards Twilight.  


“When I last saw her, she had regained her true form. She was taller than me actually.”  


“That’s the weird part. When I first met her, she was this...imp thing with an orange ponytail and some weird...clay facemask thing.” Twilight finally looks away from the fire.  


“Wait, what?”  


“Yeah. I didn’t see her in her true form until a little while later, but this girl Agitha that came with her said that she reverts sometimes. Is the imp form more powerful?”  


“No. I mean, I guess I don’t really know. She left after she regained her true form,” Twilight answers, frowning.  


“Huh. Well anyway, she’s a fantastic fighter. Don’t know if you got to see that. Did she have the shadow wolf when you knew her then? She only has it as an imp.”  


“Shadow wolf?”  


“Yeah. She rides it the way Four rides Wolfie sometimes. When she’s in her true form she just teleports and flies places, but as an imp she uses a shadow wolf. She seems to like it more.”  


Twilight smiles ever so faintly. “Yeah. Yeah she did have one.”  


“Also, was she always mean to you?” Twilight bursts out laughing, startling Four and Wild who were listening very intently.  


“Oh gods yes. Everything I did was wrong and stupid until I saved her life. Then she was nice to me.”  


“Maybe that’s why she was so weird with me. She kept being mean to me about being worse than before, then leaving me alone for a while. She probably didn’t realize I wasn’t you.” The smile on Twilight’s face becomes slightly more visible.  


“Told you I was the better fighter,” he sneers. Warriors takes offense and scoffs.  


“Oh please. I lead whole battalions. All you did was one on one fights.”  


“Oh you lead them alright. Right to defeat.”  


“Hey!”  


“Twice actually,” Time chimes in.  


“We won in the end!” Warriors replies indignantly. Wild and Four struggle to contain their laughter, which Warriors definitely notices. He huffs his nose up into the air. “Well since you all clearly don’t appreciate my input anymore, I’m going back to bed.” He stands up haughtily and stomps back to his spot by the cliff-face.  


“Come on, Wild, you should get your rest, too. You had a stressful night,” Time says, standing more slowly and dusting himself off.  


“Yeah sure,” Wild says, springing up and looking back at Twilight. “Do you want me to take your watch, though? Because I can. I have a stamina potion somewhere in my pack that I could take.”  


“No, no. I can handle it. You’re good,” Twilight responds, waving Wild back towards his bed. Wild smiles at him and heads back to the cliff-face with Time.  


“Quite the turn around for you, Twilight,” Four points out.  


“Yeah well, it doesn’t do to dwell on memories too long, does it?” Twilight asks.  


“Guess not.” There’s a comfortable silence for a few moments. “Do you mind if I show you the designs for a blade for Wild? He thinks it’ll be indestructible, but you have a more realistic idea of how quickly he’ll break it.”  


“Let’s see it then.” Four scoots closer to Twilight and lays out some materials before launching into a whole speech about how he’ll make the blade which Twilight only half listens to, distracted by the thoughts of a little imp riding a shadowy wolf.


End file.
